Virginia Soaps and Scents – TOS Review

Let me introduce you to the Spargurs.  They are a homeschooling family who live in Southeastern Virginia.  They have 9 children, 2 cats and a bunch of chickens.  They have been homeschooling for 23 years and have graduated 5 children.   They are also the owners of Virginia Soaps and Scents. 

They started this business after a science experiment where they got to make real soap.  They continued to experiment, research and design recipes.  Within 6 months they had their business up and running.   They have one rule, everything they do must be done “in house”.   They design their own labels and print them, make the soap, come up with new scents and manufacture it all in house.  This amazes me.  Their website (also designed by them) is beautiful and pleasing to the eye.  I am all for buying American made products, especially handmade ones from fellow homeschooling families.

Their handcrafted olive oil soap is what they started the business with.  This is real soap, not detergent.  I was excited to learn the difference between the two.  Almost all of their soaps contain olive and/or soy oil for skin conditioning.  But, coconut oil gives the soap its wonderful lather.  There are no added chemicals.  My problem with soap has always been that I hate leaving it lay around where it gets lumpy and soggy.  Because of this, my family has used liquid soap for years.  Honestly, my kids weren’t sure what this was when I received my package from Virginia Soaps and Scents.  They had never seen bar soap except for on TV.   This soap, even though I have used it every day, is still in the same basic shape as when I opened it, just smaller. It is not slimy and gross like soaps I have bought from the store in the past.    I received three mini bars of their soap: Fresh Orange; Oatmeal, Milk and Honey; and Coconut Lemongrass), a shampoo bar (Ginger Lime) and laundry soap kit.

My 10 year old son has very rough skin.  My whole family has dry skin.  So, we are always looking for soaps that do not aggravate these conditions.   I think we have found the cure in these bars of soap.  Although I’m not a dermatologist, I can tell you that it is has worked wonders on our skin.  My son’s skin is not as rough as before and every time I use the soap, it feels like I have just slathered myself with the best smelling lotion.   The first day we received this I took 2 baths just cuz it felt so good.    The bars come in a huge 4.75 oz size and many different scents.  I’m really wanting to order the pumpkin spice scented one and the peppermint.  I will definitely be ordering these for my Christmas stocking.  The cost for these is 3 for $12.00.  But if you buy 4 you get one free!! 

The Shampoo Bar was a new concept to me.  It has no added color and has an olive oil based soap.  I used this on my daughter first because she has the most “normal” hair in our family.   She was excited mostly because we washed her hair in the kitchen sink which was very new for her.  Looking at these pictures, I’m amazed at how much she looks like her Daddy.   You just wet the bar, rub it over your hair and voila, suds everywhere.   It really seemed to get her hair clean.  I did notice her hair felt different than usual but we are used to using conditioner.  It wasn’t a bad feeling, just different.  I know, you’re thinking she should be the model for their website, huh?  Who wouldn’t want hair that looked like this?  Just kidding, this was right after we towel dried it.   It looked great after we dried it and stayed clean for longer than normal.  My sister wanted one of these for her trip to Haiti so she wouldn’t have to take bottles on the plane but it was too late to order when she told me.  I know what I’m giving her for Christmas,  though.  The shampoo bar comes in a 5.5 oz bar and is $5.50.  It comes in ginger lime, coconut lemongrass and cherry almond. 

The last thing I received was a Laundry Soap Kit.  This has started many conversations about “going green” with my husband and family.  We are trying to get rid of the chemicals we use in our home.  I was skeptical about the laundry soap because I had to mix it up myself.  I was elated when one of the crew members told us we could use it without mixing it with water.  That is what I did and I was disappointed when it ran out.  The only problem with doing it this way was that I know I didn’t get as many loads as if I would have done it the correct way.  That’s what being lazy gets me.   You can buy the mixture as a kit which includes the washing soda and Borax or just buy the cleaning soap and make your own mixture.  I love that they have included the recipe for making this on their website.  I would love to see a scented soap that you can use for this because I love the smell of fresh clean laundry and this doesn’t have much of a smell.  I did learn that you can add scented oils to it if you wish to though.  You can wash laundry for 4 to 7 cents a load with this which is a very good deal.   It is okay to use in front loaders and HE washing machines as well. 

This review was a very pleasant one to do and our family is very happy with the products we received.   Virginia Soaps and Scents offers a variety of other products including shaving soaps, total body bars, lip balm and more.  Please visit their website to see their complete line of products and gift ideas.  They also have fundraising opportunities if you are looking for new ideas for your groups.  

** Please note I was given free products from this company in exchange for my honest opinion in this review.  No other compensation was provided.